CMV: Islamism is ruining the Middle East.

Hi, So Im putting this out there cause Im genuinely willing to have my mind changed. And right off the bat Im not knocking Islam as a religion or Muslims in general. My beef is with what I call Islamism. Its basically the political idea that wants to force a really strict and old fashioned version of Sharia law on everyone making it rule over everything else including basic freedoms. I think this specific thing is whats really messing up a lot of the Middle East right now.

When I look at it this kind of Islamism just doesnt feel like a religion. It feels more like a heavy backward system that has no place in the 21st century. It just seems to create an atmosphere thats against democracy against real thinking and incredibly hostile to women. Im talking about places where womens rights are a joke where theyre forced to wear things like burqas or niqabs and its sold as freedom where child marriage is sort of okay and where honor killings can happen without much real consequence. And then youve got the corruption the way people are exploited and how extreme ideas like Wahhabism get pushed.

Its crazy because this is a world away from the awesome history the Islamic world actually has. Ive got huge respect for the Islamic Golden Age. All the science math medicine philosophy how they saved and built on old knowledge and basically helped kickstart things in Europe later. That was an amazing time and shows what the region can be.

Look at Iran for example. Rich history smart people the land of al-Khwarizmi and Ibn Sina a key place during that Golden Age. They've got oil and a lot of educated folks. They should be doing amazingly. But it feels like the current Islamist regime there is just dragging the country down wasting money on spreading their ideology and funding conflicts while their best and brightest are leaving. Its like a genius whos got a terrible sickness and that sickness to me is this brand of Islamism.

And that’s the real shame of it, because I honestly believe a lot of these Middle Eastern countries could develop just like the West and East Asia. They’ve got the people, the history, and often the resources to be some of the richest, most innovative places on earth. But this Islamism, as I see it, is the main thing holding them back.

Now I know someones going to say What about Christian fundamentalists in the US or something like that. I get it but I dont think its the same thing. Problematic religious groups are everywhere sure. But the big difference for me is when that ideology takes over the government and tries to make religious rules the law of the land above any constitution or basic human rights enforced by the state. The level of control the actual laws like death for leaving the religion or stoning people and how deeply discrimination especially against women is baked into the system under these Islamist governments thats just on another level compared to religious groups in a country thats still fundamentally a secular democracy.

Honestly because of all this I feel like a lot of the world just doesnt take many Middle Eastern societies seriously other than for their oil. They get stereotyped as places of conflict and refugees or like theyre stuck in the past. And yeah thats a huge underestimation of their people and what they could be but sadly I also think its partly a reflection of the reality these Islamist ideologies have created.

So whats the fix. I think there needs to be a massive shift. Instead of systems based on these rigid old school interpretations of Sharia they need to move to sensible constitutional governments. That means actually separating religion and state proper gender equality freedom of religion and thought and just basic rule of law and human rights for everyone.

Anyway thats my current take. I know I might be missing things or be biased. If there are examples where this kind of Islamism has actually been good or if these problems are really because of other stuff like colonialism foreign meddling whatever or if my definition of Islamism is off Im here to listen and hopefully get a better understanding.